Atkinson, 23, had 17 goals and 21 assists in 33 games. His 38 points are third in the AHL, but it’s not the potent production that might make him the sharpest Blue Jacket when training camp opens on Sunday.

Playing 33 games in what MacFarland and Atkinson said is the second-best hockey league in the world has put Atkinson in midseason form. It is why, in the strange dynamic of a lockout-shortened season, a player with 27 NHL games might be a training-camp tone-setter.

“I think all those guys that have been playing in the AHL and end up making their NHL teams are certainly going to feel comfortable,” said MacFarland, who oversees the Jackets’ minor-league system and has seen the bulk of Springfield’s games.

“They’ve been getting bumped around and banged around and having practices and contact. They’re going to feel good on the ice. Cam, pretty much from day one, took it seriously and worked his tail off.”

Atkinson and defenseman John Moore returned to Columbus yesterday. The handful of their Springfield teammates who will join training camp and the 10 Blue Jackets players who spent at least a portion of the 113-day lockout playing in leagues elsewhere will have a distinct advantage when the season begins.

There is no substitute for 60-minute, professional hockey games.

“I think it’s an advantage,” Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson said. “We’ll see how much of an advantage it is, how quickly it manifests itself and how quickly it goes away. But certainly, initially, they’re going to be used to game conditions. Just the daily routine of what the body goes through, they’ll be used to that.”

Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu said his five-week stay in Sweden “had to be done,” even though it meant playing only seven games for a second-division team (“not the best,” Letestu said) in a league that took lengthy breaks for Christmas and an international tournament.

Letestu spent the holidays away from his expectant wife, Brett, and their 1-year-old son, Caleb.

“I needed to skate,” Letestu said. “I needed to get some games.”

Although some NHL players appeared in more than 30 games overseas, Letestu acknowledged that the young players in the AHL might have the greatest advantage.

“Those guys should be really excited about the opportunities they’re going to have coming into camp,” he said. “They’re going to be in midseason form, and that’s tough for anybody to match in any season even with a full summer of training. Early on, I think we’ll be relying on those kids to pick up big minutes. If I was them, I’d be feeling really good about my chances coming in.”

Atkinson had 29 goals and 15 assists in 51 games for Springfield and seven goals and seven assists in 27 games for the Blue Jackets last season. He totaled five goals in the final two games, including a hat trick in a 5-2 victory at Colorado on April 5.

He said his confidence is as high as it was then, elevated by his success in an AHL made tougher by the presence of so many players who would have otherwise been playing in the NHL.

“I know there are going to be a lot of opportunities for everyone, including myself,” Atkinson said. “I’m just going to work … and prove that I can stay in the NHL.”

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